1/100 MG GP-02a Physalis - Part 2

This One's Got Some Thrust!

One of the Physalis's most distinguishing features, of course, would be the massive pods on it's shoulders.  As I said in Part 1, I thought they looked really stupid when I first saw them just hanging down off the shoulders.  But when I saw the Mobile Suit in action in Stardust Memories and saw the pods flip out and the machine take flight, I realized just how cool a concept this was!  However, I think there are some flaws in the design which I will discuss in the last posting.

Starting on the pods:

There is a lot of inner detail on the pods.  I know most of this will be hidden from view most of the time, but I just had to hit it with ink!

Plane vanilla...

Drizzled with dark chocolate!  See why I couldn't let this go?

Here it is, the ugly pod for the left shoulder.

Flip it up

The inner thruster and the one on the end have a linked mechanism.

Push the outer most thruster down and the inner one comes out with it.  Very cool

The back thruster also swivels down.

Like so, and now the transformation is complete.

Using the arm and an eraser to balance it all, this is the completed arm unit.

Here's the left arm; very basic assembly.  It's going to be difficult to NOT paint those hydraulic portions on the forearm silver and gold.  I may end up doing that in the end anyway.  Thing is, I don't think they are actually pistons, I think they're just part of the armor...

Oh these hands!  I HATE THESE HANDS!  The old style of MG hands, no pegs to hold the weapons and the thumbs are so loose they hinder rather than help when it comes to holding things.  The bazooka is attached to the shoulder, so that won't be an issue, but the MASSIVE shield will never stay in these hands.

Pretty decent elbow range for a kit of this age.  The wrist even moves up and down to help with the bazooka.

That's all for the arms, the right arm is basically the same thing. It just has an extra space for the bazooka mount.  This kit is already assembled, I'll most likely just move onto painting for the next post instead of dismantling things.

Until Next Time:  Happy Building!

1/100 MG Deathscythe Hell EW Two Joes Build - Part 2

This Cockpit Seems Very Familiar...

Wow, Other Joe got his Deathscythe Hell EW built a lot quicker than I did!  Last I left off I only had the head done.  The torso is up next for this posting:

All of the parts for the torso.

The pod the will contain the cockpit seat and monitors.

This is the same seat used for the MG Wing Gundam built last year, so it will receive similar treatment.

Duo and the cockpit all painted and ready to be The God of Death!

Slight angle to show the panel monitors and some "buttons"

There's Duo, safe and sound in the cockpit.

The cockpit on the Deathscythe opens up very nicely to show the control pod.  I should have painted the inside of the ball the cockpit sets in...

The head just pops on.  I painted the head camera orange, like the OVA version.

Not sure if I'm going to leave this vent on the back of the head this color or paint it gray...

The head of D-Hell just looks B.A.!

That's all for this posting.  The next time you see Deathscythe Hell EW, he will be completely assembled.  I still have no clue what I'm going to do with him, if i even decide to do anything special.  I tell you, if I had an airbrush, I would paint him up just like vegeta8259 did on his YouTube channel!  His work is amazing and he makes it look so easy!

Until Next Time:  Happy Building!

1/100 TT Hongli MG Hi Nu Gundam Couple's Build - Part 2

TT Hongli Hi-Nu doesn't Have a Very Good Head on His Shoulders...

We continued on with the Hi-Nu Gundam the following Tuesday (3/29) and we only got the head done, it was stressful day for the two of us, so we just didn't feel like building much.  So here it is...

Side view, and that seam line is just awful.  The halves just don't line up.

The faceplate seems to be out or down too far from the "helmet" and the chin is LOL HUGE!

I painted the eyes clear yellow, and here you can see what I mean about the face plate.  It just sits so low that the eyes especially look out of place.

Not sure if it's because of the face plate issue, but the forehead camera doesn't go up all the way into the head!  FRUSTRATING!

Melissa noticed this interesting bit:

The V-Fin is VERY flexible!  She said this is good because she won't be able to break this one :-P...  She snapped a few pieces on her Trans AM Exia HG and MG.

Went ahead and painted a few silver details on the head; vents, vulcans, etc.

Painting my base red on top and black along the bottom.

To match Amuro's A on the Nu Gundam's shoulder and shield, to show the link or something like that.

Melissa went a little more Bling Bling than I would have liked...

All silver for her base.

That's it for this posting.  We moved onto the arm right arm last Monday and we mat get to more this weekend.

Until Next Time:  Happy Building!

1/100 MG GP-02a Physalis Part 1

Getting a Head of Myself

I first saw the GP-02a Physalis when I bought the Gundam Wing series on VHS of so many years ago before I had access to a DVD player.  As I watched the previews for 0083 Star Dust Memories on the VHS tapes because I was too lazy to fast forward through them, I saw for the first time the ugliest mech I think I'd ever laid eyes on at that point.  It was bulky beyond belief, it's lower legs were completely disproportionate to the rest of it's body, save those horrid looking pods hanging off the arms.  I just thought the whole design was flawed.

I remember, too, sifting through pictures of Gunpla on websites like HLJ and ehobbyland trying to learn all I could about the hobby I was just getting into and I ran across the Physalis as an old 1/144 kit and again as a Master Grade while searching.  The design looked even uglier in plastic form!  Then I saw that the pods at least flipped up and were used as the Gundams mode of propulsion, but still, it just looked wierd.

When the Gundam Wing series had given way to the Universal Century time line and I watched the OVAs I finally started to appreciate the design of the Physalis.  I learned it was bulky because it was a powerhouse!  It was heavily armored and the massive shield was used as a cooling system to handle its raw power.  And why was this Mobile Suit made to be a such an armored beast?

TO NUKE THE CRAP OUT OF THE ZEONS OF COURSE!

Luckily!  Gato kicks ass and stole the Physalis and nuked the Feddie Scum fleet instead.  The Physalis, once seen in action, was now a really cool machine in my eyes.  So when a friend of mine said he had a MG Physalis for sale, I snatched it up along with three others he had which I will get to eventually.

Work begins with the head:

All of the parts.  For whatever reason the older MG Gundam kits came with two V-fins... not sure why.

Very carefully, I painted the edges of the eyes with a dark gray Gundam Marker.

Not too shabby, eh?

Next the part of the faceplate behind the eyes is painted in silver.

Like so.

Ooooo!  Shiney!

Clear green for the eyes.

There we go.

The rear camera is given a similar treatment.

Not sure if I'll use this one, I'd have to paint the center piece and I kinda don't feel like it.

I assembled the head and added some Gundam Marker Grey to the inside of the yellow vents on the sides of the head.

I don't know why, I just felt that the small indented section here at the back of the head needed to be grey, so there it is.

Panel lined, I'll need to clean it up a bit.

And that's all for the Physalis this time around.  More on him later.

Until Next Time:  Happy Building!